Food Labeling

  FDA is issuing this guidance to chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments that sell standard menu items[1] covered under the menu labeling provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Boost your knowledge of food labels and labeling terms, learn what health claims on labels mean, and find educational materials on how food labels can help in making the best food choices to promote good health.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiative to provide consumers with science-based educational information to better understand how GMOs are made, learn more about the types of crops that have been modified, address questions they may have about the health and safety of GMOs as well as explain how GMOs are regulated in the U.S

The United States does not have any federal legislation that is specific to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  GMOs are regulated in the United States under the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology, published in 1986, pursuant to previously existing statutory authority regulating conventional products, with a focus on the nature of the products rather than the process in which they are produced. 

The Standard defines bioengineered foods as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through certain lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature.

The Health Educator’s Nutrition Toolkit is designed to help health educators, dietitians, physicians, other health care and nutrition professionals, social workers, youth counselors, and program directors teach consumers about the Nutrition Facts label and how to use the information it provides to make healthier food choices.

FSIS guidance information, the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book and Policy Memorandums, nutrition labeling information and other resource material regarding meat, poultry, and egg product labeling policies. For questions:USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline: 888-674-6854. FSIS Label submission and approval system guidance for industry

• FDA Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label
• Topic Specific Labeling Information
• Draft Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers on the Nutrition and Supplement 
• Facts Labels Related to the Compliance Date and Added Sugars
• FDA Questions and Answers for Industry on Dietary Fiber
• FDA New Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs)
• Examples of Labels in the New Format
• FDA Updated Daily Reference Values (DRVs)
• FDA Updated Reference Daily Intakes (RDIs)
• Menu Labeling Requirements
• Draft Guidance for Industry: Calorie Labeling of Article of Food in Vending Machines
• Nutrition Facts Label Reboot: A Tale of Two Labels

FDA's Food Labeling program develops policy and regulations for dietary supplements, nutrition labeling and food standards, infant formula and medical foods. Also conducts scientific evaluation to support such regulations and related policy development.

• The New and Improved Nutrition Facts Label-Key Changes
• The New Nutrition Label-What's in it for you?
• Social Media Toolkit on the New Nutrition Facts Label (Spanish version)

Learn about USDA's National Organic Program, how organic food is produced, and what it means when foods are labeled as organic or containing organic ingredients.